Porcelain Mask
by Sauru Tsukiyumi Sanbi's Faeble
Summary: Sakura didn't know just what she was dealing with when she met the mysterious ANBU. "Now I'm 100% sure this isn't legal, Urufu." "Pfft, storing books away and making people pay to look at them should be illegal. So I called it even a long time ago."
1. I: Library

**Okay, this is my little project. When I'm bored, I'll update this. It's really fun to write. Anyone who's read my other fics... can you guess who Urufu is?**

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Sakura walked along the dirty block, warily casting glances at the dark alleys. She clutched the medical scrolls she was carting around closer to her chest. A scratching noise alerted her to another's presence.

Sakura Haruno was fourteen and under the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, as an apprentice. Okay, _the_ apprentice. Therefore, it was plausible that an enemy could try and take her hostage. Her vibrant green eyes narrowed as she inconspicuously turned in the general direction of the noise.

It was an ANBU. However, that meant nothing. ANBU members were the easiest to impersonate. They wore masks, which effectively covered up their face completely. She narrowed her eyes and spun around to face him (She could tell by the shape of the shadow).

"Alright, prove you're an ANBU. What are your orders?" she demanded. He lifted his bowed head, and she only caught a flash of red behind his mask and messy black hair. What further irked her was that his hair covered the whole left side of the mask- and his face underneath.

"Orders? Well, let's just say Tsunade-baa-chan is pissed at me and decided that I needed to escort you everywhere. Yeah, that's the gist of it. Here's the mission statement." He held out a shredded paper. Sakura snatched it, careful not to touch him. She glared at the paper.

'_**GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM, BRAT! GO MAKE SURE MY APPRENTICE IS OK! AND DON'T COME BACK!'**_

She winced at the statement. She looked up at him, and realized he wasn't much taller than she was.

"Uhh… what did you do?" she said sympathetically. He laughed nervously, and scratched the back of his neck in a very Naruto-like fashion.

"Every time I see her she gets angry. I guess it's my fault, but hey, she's pretty bed herself!" he said, sounding boyish and Sakura again wondered just how old this guy was. Then he continued, "We insult each other. It's fun. Real fun, until she starts throwing things." He added sarcastically.

Okay, that definitely proves it. This guy was a Kohona shinobi.

"Well, I guess nothing can be done about this then. Come on, let's go. I was heading over to…" suddenly she trailed off, and looked at him suspiciously, "How long have you been there?"

She couldn't see his face, but Sakura could imagine him blinking innocently.

"Ten minutes. Why?" the dark-haired ANBU answered. Sakura wanted to punch something… she hadn't noticed him?! Tsunade had trained her chakra sensing ability to extreme! She made a face at herself until she remembered that he was still standing there. And there he was, arms crossed in a skeptical manner and leaning on one foot.

"Uhh… yeah I zoned out, sorry." She amended hastily. He only cocked his head sideways.

"Huh? I do that all the time. Why are you apologizing?" he asked, voice genuinely curious. Her eyebrows knitted together. He was really, really hard to read! She sighed.

"Let's go."

"'Kay!" he said, trotting next to her like a lost puppy down the lost street and beyond.

* * *

The library was old. Like, really old. It towered over the rest of the buildings on the street, giving off the scent of old books and scrolls. When Sakura turned to tell the ANBU that they were here, she closed her mouth, realizing that she didn't know his name.

"Hey, uh, what's your name?" she queried, blinking at him. When he raised his head, she again got a glimpse of red through the visible eyehole of his mask.

"Hmm… If I wasn't on duty, I'd tell you… You can call me Urufu (*wolf), I guess." She glanced at the ANBU mask. The face was indeed that of a wolf, and a perfectly calm one to boot. Usually the dog, fox, and wolf masks were snarling ferociously. She nodded, and committed the name to, er, mask.

She moved to enter the library when he called out to her.

"Haruno- san, are you really going in that way? 'Cause you're gonna have to pay the fee…" he said, still at the bottom of the cracked marble steps. She looked down at the curious ANBU.

"Uhh… what other way is there?' Okay, so that fee did get annoying…

"This way!" In a flash, he grabbed her arm and leapt up to one of the highest ornate windowsills. Sakura shakily held on to the side, looking down worriedly.

"Now I'm 100% percent sure this isn't legal, Urufu."

"Pfft, storing books away and making people pay to look at them _should_ be illegal. So I called it even a long time ago." He replied easily. Sakura snorted with laughter, and then smothered it. Meanwhile, he fiddled with the lock on the window.

When he was rewarded with a satisfying, 'click,' he ducked inside the dimly- lit building. Soon after, Sakura herself slipped in and he shut the window. Both suddenly started laughing. That is, until a voice sounded out behind them.

"You _again?_"

Urufu swung around casually. The librarian frowned at him amusedly.

"Oh, hi, how's it going?" The impudent answer didn't faze the librarian, nor did the casual wave. She sighed and rubbed her temples. Judging by both reactions, this was reoccurring.

"Hmm? Oh dear. Now you dragged the Hokage's apprentice with you?" The elderly woman squinted at Sakura, who was using all her concentration not to laugh.

"Well, at least I have morals. I explained them while I unlocked the window." He replied again.

"_Pfft, storing books away and making people pay to look at them should be illegal. So I called it even a long time ago."_

Sakura couldn't hold on any longer. She cracked up. So _that_ was how he justified breaking into a library? This guy was insane, on crack, or both. But she had to agree.

"… Fine. You, young man, truly are both a public nuisance and a bad influence. However, you are an intelligent reader. Don't look at me like that. I know I can't keep you away, you're like a cockroach."

"… Does that mean that you could cut my head off and I'd still live for another month?"

Sakura was in tears at this point. Urufu was staring at the librarian, who was glaring at him, and Sakura… well, she wasn't able to look anywhere, she was laughing too hard.

"Oi, oi, don't hurt yourself. If I tell Tsunade that you died laughing, she'd kill me. And somehow I don't think that if she ripped my head off I'd live…" He said doubtfully. Sakura tried to straighten herself out, wiping tears from her eyes and smothering the leftover giggles with a cough.

"Um… Sorry?" she offered at the librarian.

"Don't worry sweetie. You should have seen this boy when he first broke in. We contemplated sending him to the hospital." Urufu snickered at this and the librarian whacked him over the head with a book she was holding.

He didn't seem very effected by the hit… in fact, he hardly moved. _What's his skull made of, steel?!

* * *

_

After thanking the librarian and finding the medical section, she settled on a big leather chair with a really long scroll titled '_Ways for Treating Various Ocular Kekkei Genkai'_. She sighed when she saw the first chapter.

Sharingan.

Wow, this book is old. Urufu glanced at the bold letter title.

"Know someone with it?" he asked. She winced. It was a kind of insensitive question… He just looked at her over his shoulder.

Again, she got an unnerving glimmer of red through that mask.

"Um… my teammate." She said, giving as little detail as possible.

"Mmhmm. My older sister's team had an Uchiha on it. What an odd person he was. Lemme guess; Uchiha Sasuke is who was on your team?" he asked innocently, gaze still fixed on her. Sakura's jaw dropped. She nodded, half sad and half dumbfounded. _Curse ANBU and their sources…_

"Yeah, Itachi was on my sister's team."

Sakura's throat went dry suddenly. She felt like choking.

"Did you… know him?"

Urufu nodded, without moving his stare.

"What was he like?"

"Huh?'

She gulped, "I asked," she swallowed, "whatwashelike?" she blurted out quickly. Urufu laughed and shook his head, raven- black hair swaying with the motion.

"Nah, I heard you the first time. I was just a little surprised, that's all," he paused as is if considering his answer until continuing, "Well… he was very calm all the time. I think the only time he looked surprised while I was around was when my sister remembered his birthday. And he was a really excellent fighter. Though, he always fought defensively- like he didn't really want to hurt anyone. And he smiled once, at my sister," he paused and exhaled, "but it looked natural. You know, like he wasn't forcing himself to smile because it was polite."

You could tell that he cared about Sasuke. So, I never was quite sure that it was an act- it was too… too normal and convincing to be fake. Trust me; I've seen fake and it's just so… identifiable. Weird, huh?" He kept trailing off in thought. Sakura wished she could see his expression behind the white and red mask. She contemplated this information silently. So… Itachi wasn't like Sasuke? Not cold and hateful? She frowned.

When she looked over her shoulder to reply, Urufu had turned around. He was messing with a small machine in his lap. The ANBU had casually turned sideways in the chair and had swung his legs over the arm of the chair.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He said, not looking up. She flinched, not even realizing that she had been staring.

"Oh, sorry. What are you doing?" She asked, embarrassed that he'd caught her.

"Hmmm… just messing with this. Found it in my basement." He replied shortly, in monotone. His concentration was so intense that she felt like apologizing for talking. It was like a radiation of concentration that came of Urufu in waves.

* * *

An hour or so later, Sakura was finished her studies on the Byakugan. Tsunade had insisted that she know how to heal the Hyuga eyes as part of her training regime.

When she turned to Urufu to tell him she was done, she noticed that he had put away the little device and put his arms behind his head. She opened her mouth again to speak, she saw how his breathing was slower than normal.

He was _asleep_?!

Sakura walked over and considered ripping the mask off, but decided against it. It would be against regulations. Most likely, he would get in trouble and Tsunade would make her train for nine hours straight as punishment. She shuddered.

After some careful consideration, she decided to simply poke him awake.

So she did. She poke his side.

No response.

Poke.

…

Poke.

…

Poke.

…

Okay, that was it. It was time to use the dreaded 'Uber Poke.'

POKE.

…

POKE. POKE.

Sakura growled under her breath. Then, she got an idea. Using a new technique Tsunade had taught her just a month earlier, she charged chakra to her finger and tried to poke him using her super- strength.

**PO**- A hand stopped the Super Poke.

"Hey, don't you know that that hurts after a while? Sheesh…"

"Huh? Wha- wait, you were awake?!"

"Duh. I'm not an ANBU for nothing…" he said, speech still slightly impaired by sleep. She backed up as he forced himself off the chair.

"Oww… my back hurts now," a loud crack made Sakura wince… that couldn't be good. He continued, "Stupid chair… I should hurt you." He finished, looking pointedly at the chair.

He got no response. For a minute, Sakura actually believed that it would reply. He was just that sincere.

"I hate library chairs. Just like you. Actually, I loathe you in particular. I know that hate and loathe are the same, but loathe sounds worse. So, I loathe you, chair. And I do have a sword. Be afraid, very afraid, O Chair that I Loathe…" he muttered to the very innocent-looking chair.

However, both Sakura and Urufu knew that behind that cute, shabby exterior was an evil, vile creature. Even though vile and evil were practically the same, vile sounded worse. So _there_. In yo _face_.

The two stalked off, darkly cursing library chairs under their breath.

* * *

"Oh, hi Sak- oh _god no_." Tsunade said as they came through the door. She looked horrified at the sight of Urufu.

"Hi Old Hag."

"Shut up, Little Brat."

"Okay, Old Hag."

"… Little Shrimpy Brat."

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME, YOU CANTANKEROUS OLD HAG!?" Urufu yelled, and Sakura could imagine a vein popping out of his forehead. In fact, she was _absolutely sure_ that it was there.

There was silence.

Tsunade broke the silence by saying, "Brat, didn't I tell you not to use large words while insulting someone? You shame me as your teacher."

"Sorry, O Great Cussing Teacher."

"… Did you really just say that?"

"… Maybe."

"…"

"…Crap."

* * *

The conversation became increasingly unintelligent from then on, so eventually (after Tsunade threw her chair at Urufu) Urufu was persuaded to make a (swift) exit.

Tsunade cleared her throat, "Sorry about that, Sakura. It's… a bad habit of ours I guess," she muttered under her breath. Sakura caught 'Brat' and 'kill.'

Yeah, not a good combination there.

"So… what will we work on today?" Sakura asked politely. A pen whizzed past her cheek. She ducked to avoid it just in time.

Tsunade fixed her apprentice with a sharp brown gaze.

"Dodging and fighting. And Brat can help."

* * *

Soon, Sakura found herself standing in the training field with her mentor and the ANBU boy.

"Brat, consider yourself off-duty."

Urufu let out a relieved sigh, "Finally… I hate masks. They're creepy and- I just really, _really_ hate masks."

Tsunade sweat dropped, "Just don't start talking to it… please."

He reached up and pulled the mask off to the side until it was completely off his face.

Sakura hid her reaction perfectly. She choked, but reached up to her neck and soothed the noise while looking like she was brushing back her hair.

This boy looked _like a brother to Sasuke_.

Midnight black hair and crimson eyes… yep.

JUST. LIKE. SASUKE.

Granted, he was a bit tanner and his eye wasn't Sharingan. The red was sparkly with mischief and humor as well. And… looking like Sasuke meant he looked like an Uchiha.

Uchihas are _smexy_.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when Tsunade spoke.

"Okay, let's spar. How about it, brat?"

"Fine by me! ... Don't kill me." He replied cheerily.

Okay, now this was just weird. A Sasuke- resembling boy with a Naruto-like personality… just a bit more sarcasm and wittiness.

"Alright then. Sakura?"

"Right!" Sakura said firmly. She couldn't let Urufu bother her. Really. No, really. _Stop bothering me, Urufu! …_ _Okay, never mind. That was definitely not normal_.

Tsunade held up her hand, and Sakura replaced her thoughts with a clear battle outlook. _Okay, since I don't know anything about Urufu's technique, I'll pit him and Tsunade-shishou against each other and watch…_

"GO!"

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**OKAY. I think this chapter is funny. Is it just me? Hopefully... not.**


	2. II: Arguing

**Hi… Again.

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Sakura generally expects that when someone yells 'GO!' there is movement.

So why was no one moving?! Sakura's pink brows went up when both of her foes swung at her simultaneously. She gasped and bent backwards to avoid both punches.

So she started her calculations.

_Ok, think. Tsunade's swing was a lot slower than Urufu. In fact, if I had moved any later, he would've nailed me… Freaking ANBU and their speed._

She had to halt her calculations when she felt a gust behind her. She looked up to see Tsunade's smirk.

But no Urufu.

Sakura did a midair 180 to see a fist… in her face. WHAM! She went flying back, cheek burning with pain and shame. She touched her lip and pulled her hand up in her line of sight. Yep, he had split her lip. She gritted her teeth and glared at him.

Oh, that was _it._ Urufu was leaning on a tree, and _smirking_. He. Will. Die.

She flew at him with all her speed, gathering a fair amount of chakra to her fist and pulling her hand back, aiming for his stomach.

SMASH! The tree erupted into splinters and Sakura whipped around. She scanned every visible place he could be… And suddenly felt a very, very scary chakra coming swiftly from her right. She dodged, cartwheeling out of the way. Tsunade smashed the ground where Sakura had been standing just seconds before.

"Don't forget about me, girl!" Her mentor exclaimed loudly.

Sakura accidentally moved her head sideways and then felt a whoosh of air go over her shoulder. Her eyes widened as a shuriken embedded itself in a nearby tree.

"Actually, forgetting either of us would be foolish, wouldn't it?" came Urufu's voice from behind. Sakura leapt over until she could see both. They were both looking as pleased as punch.

_Damn it…!_

"You're doing well, Sakura. Fighting two foes is more difficult than one, unless they have no teamwork. For instance, fighting off Sasuke and Naruto would be more difficult than fighting you and Ino. Got it?"

Sakura nodded, out of breath and lip oozing slightly. She knew a bruise would form on her face the next day. She brushed over it with some healing chakra and felt the pain subside slightly.

Urufu smiled brightly, "Sorry about that. By the way, I don't think wearing that dress is helping your movements at all. My sister used to wear one, until she switched it out for pants."

Tsunade nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Brat's right. I was going to tell you… I guess I forgot. Well, how about coming to me tomorrow in a more practical outfit and we'll practice dodging again."

_Oh, no. Not the baseball bat and paint balls! Life sucks…_

Tsunade smiled at her rather disheveled apprentice. She was going to be a very, very scary kunoichi someday.

Tsunade's proud thoughts were interrupted by an ANBU member poofing in next to Urufu.

"77, you are late."

Urufu scowled, "Screw you. I'm not coming."

The ANBU was persistent, "You should come, and it's actually a promotion."

"I know. A promotion into _what_? Hell? Sure, I'll come. Not."

"Then I have been ordered to demote you to Jounin rank."

"WHAT THE HELL?! I get _demoted_ for refusing to become some Root _dog_?!"

"Yes. Mask, please."

Urufu glowered menacingly, until he sighed and handed over the wolf mask. Tsunade frowned angrily.

"And just who gave you these orders?" She demanded shortly at the Bird ANBU. Her hands went on her hips, and she was very intimidating. Sakura fixed her mentor with a questioning stare. _ANBU can be ordered about by someone other than the Hokage? Root!? What is Root?!_

"Danzo-sama. It cannot be reversed. I am Root." He answered in monotone. Tsunade gagged behind her hand, pretending to cough.

"Fine then. LEAVE. And tell Danzo-_sama _GOOD DAY." The blond woman growled, visibly frustrated. The ANBU saluted and poofed away. Urufu scowled, crossing his arms and appearing just a little childish.

"Like hell I'd become Root. They've been pestering me for _months_." He complained, "Oh well. At least I don't have to wear that stupid mask anymore!" he added positively, grinning.

"Alright, Brat, you are the oddest being to ever grace this planet."

"No, that's _you_, Tsunade-baa-chan! Did you forget?"

'SHUT UP BRAT!"

* * *

"Okay, the only annoying thing is that now I'm going to have to find my Jounin vest. I'm pretty sure that it's in the basement, but… then again, it could be anywhere."

"Knowing you, Brat, it no longer exists because a black hole swallowed it up and now it is burning in the abyss."

"Shut up old hag." He playfully spat back at Tsunade. The Hokage just glared at him, and he laughed nervously.

"Hehehe… well, I guess I'd better go look for it then. Ciao!"

And then he just disappeared. No smoke at all. Sakura looked at the spot he was in distrustfully. No ANBU just _disappears_. They poof. There's a difference, folks.

Sakura knew that she had a 'WTF?!' look on her face, but made no move to change it. She was 'WTFing' and wanted the world to know it, dammit.

"Brat is… a unique ninja, Sakura."

"I noticed." She remarked dryly. Tsunade shook her head solemnly.

"I was serious. Jutsu- wise, he's one- of- a- kind. Despite not having any Kekkei Genkai that we know of, it's still… intriguing."

* * *

In his basement, Urufu sneezed. '_Eh? Must be the dust…'_

_

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"That's why Root pursued him. However, Brat proved that he was a sentient being by refusing…" Tsunade's eyebrows knitted together. Sakura frowned, not comprehending.

"Root? Are they some kind of ANBU?" She questioned, frown still in place. Tsunade nodded again.

"Hey guys…" a terrified-sounding voice whispered from behind the two females. Tsunade turned around to face the tree that the voice came from.

"Old Hag, keep them away… really, I'm terrified. I actually _miss the mask_."

It was Urufu. Standing upside- down in the tree, breathing heavily.

Tsunade's eyebrow shot up.

"You know, Nii-chan's sensei told me once that fangirls ruin _everything_. And now I know why… unfortunately."

Sakura winced. Okay, so now we had to deal with his attitude _and _his fangirls?! Actually… she didn't really care. Beating up creepy stalkers is fun and his sarcasm is really… amusing.

"Well… run, Brat. I can deal with this. By the way… where is your Jounin vest? Wearing the Jounin shirt isn't a good idea if you have rabid stalkers…" Okay, so Sakura had to agree. What idiots decided the standard Jounin outfit should include a sleeveless muscle shirt?!

Actually, once upon a time she would probably be in that crowd too… Sakura winced again, _bad thoughts, bad times_.

When she looked up, Urufu was gone again. Tsunade was standing in front of a seemingly- lost girl in the road. Sakura guessed they had split up when they couldn't find him.

Poor, poor little girls. Wait… how old is that girl?! She looked… like, seventeen. Ew. Tsunade was lecturing her on etiquette and her brown eyes were huge while she listened.

Finally, she scurried away, hopefully permanently. Tsunade stalked over.

"The only thing you need to say is that stalking is morally wrong and lecture them. I'm just so glad you weren't too bad… I didn't even need to give you the lecture." The blond woman said, looking proudly at her student. Sakura beamed.

"Of course Tsunade-shishou!"

* * *

They found Urufu later in the Hokage tower. He was arguing with the best vet in Kohona.

Hana Inuzuka.

"DON'T MAKE ME HURT YOU, SPIKE!"

"YEAH, I SHOULD SAY THE SAME, DOG-BREATH!"

"OH, YOU WENT THERE!"

"… Yes, yes I did."

"… You _suck_."

"… Not as much as _you_."

"EXCUSE ME, SPIKY BRAT?!"

"You heard me."

"I'm going to kill you. No, I'm going to-"

Tsunade butted in before it got too graphic, "Okay, you two. It's all good, stop arguing. And glaring. And strangling. Yes, that means you, Hana."

Hana grumbled, but let go of her opponent's neck. He stuck his tongue out at her childishly. Her hand twitched and he stopped.

Sakura walked up, "Hey Urufu, why is it that everyone wants to kill you?"

He shrugged. Tsunade answered for him, "Because he's THE Brat. And it's fun to try and kill him because _he just won't die_. Right, Brat?"

He looked paler than usual. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his black-regulation pants, he rolled his eyes at the two scary women.

"First of all, my name is not Brat or Urufu. That's my codename. I'm Hideo." He corrected frankly. Sakura _had _wondered if he was going to tell them his real name… but based on the fact that he was looking at _her_, the others already knew.

"Okay."

"…"

There was a long silence. That is, until Shizune burst out of the office and demanded that Tsunade do her paperwork. _NOW_. And Tonton backed her up.

* * *

**Uh... Don't hurt me? Reviews would be appreciated**.


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